Published: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 3:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 3:46 p.m.

It was no big surprise that Jon Thaxton lost to Kathy Dent in the Sarasota County supervisor of elections race. Beating an incumbent, especially for a constitutional office, is always an uphill battle.

But the margin? Almost 3-to-1? How could Thaxton, arguably one of the most popular county commissioners for three terms, lose so decisively?

Based on conversations with voters, several factors probably converged to lead to his demise.

First, Thaxton became the unintended poster child for term limits. To be more precise, he became the symbol of the county commission's refusal to embrace the limits that voters imposed on them, and only them, in 1998.

Years ago, after a district court ruled the limits unconstitutional, the county never appealed. This year, the Florida Supreme Court upheld county-initiated term limits.

In the meantime, anticipating just such a ruling, the commissioners had toyed with the idea of asking voters to start the term-limit clock after the 2012 election, meaning that sitting commissioners could serve at least another two terms, possibly three. That move came across as self-serving and was not revived after a judge shot it down as a referendum topic.

Although Thaxton himself expressed second thoughts about circumventing the 1998 vote, he paid the price as the first commissioner who had to abandon plans to run again.

When he subsequently decided to run for supervisor of elections, many voters took an even broader view of term limits. Fair or not, they saw Thaxton's change of direction as a desperate attempt to keep a job, any job, that would allow him to remain in public office.

And things went downhill from there.

During the campaign, Thaxton hammered Dent not only for problems with various elections, but also for what he called a "character flaw."

The 18,000 undervotes in the 2006 general election between Democrat Christine Jennings and Republican Vern Buchanan highlighted the former. At the time, Dent absorbed considerable criticism for the ballot design and the touchscreen polling machines. But Thaxton's 2012 Republican primary audience may have been quicker to forgive those problems, if they did indeed lead to the undervotes. After all, the Republican won. So what was the problem again?

More recently, Dent told the county commissioners that she had not granted raises to her employees. It turns out she had, which she justified because those employees had taken on additional duties. Thaxton attributed the misrepresentation to a character flaw.

To neutral observers, however, Dent's actions seemed more those of a conscientious employer trying to reward good employees the best she could.

And Thaxton's criticisms, almost all of them, came across as shrill. He was attacking good old Aunt Kathy. She might not be perfect, but she's the first one invited to the family reunion.

What's more, speaking of character, Thaxton's offensive approach to the race was totally out of character for him. A blunt, name-calling brute had somehow replaced the thoughtful analyst with the warm wit that voters had known for 12 years.

The transformation jarred anyone who saw it.

Honestly, Thaxton probably did not really want the job. He still wanted to be a commissioner. The supervisor of elections office was a distant second choice.

<p>It was no big surprise that Jon Thaxton lost to Kathy Dent in the Sarasota County supervisor of elections race. Beating an incumbent, especially for a constitutional office, is always an uphill battle.</p><p>But the margin? Almost 3-to-1? How could Thaxton, arguably one of the most popular county commissioners for three terms, lose so decisively?</p><p>Based on conversations with voters, several factors probably converged to lead to his demise.</p><p>First, Thaxton became the unintended poster child for term limits. To be more precise, he became the symbol of the county commission's refusal to embrace the limits that voters imposed on them, and only them, in 1998.</p><p>Years ago, after a district court ruled the limits unconstitutional, the county never appealed. This year, the Florida Supreme Court upheld county-initiated term limits.</p><p>In the meantime, anticipating just such a ruling, the commissioners had toyed with the idea of asking voters to start the term-limit clock after the 2012 election, meaning that sitting commissioners could serve at least another two terms, possibly three. That move came across as self-serving and was not revived after a judge shot it down as a referendum topic.</p><p>Although Thaxton himself expressed second thoughts about circumventing the 1998 vote, he paid the price as the first commissioner who had to abandon plans to run again.</p><p>When he subsequently decided to run for supervisor of elections, many voters took an even broader view of term limits. Fair or not, they saw Thaxton's change of direction as a desperate attempt to keep a job, any job, that would allow him to remain in public office.</p><p>And things went downhill from there.</p><p>During the campaign, Thaxton hammered Dent not only for problems with various elections, but also for what he called a "character flaw."</p><p>The 18,000 undervotes in the 2006 general election between Democrat Christine Jennings and Republican Vern Buchanan highlighted the former. At the time, Dent absorbed considerable criticism for the ballot design and the touchscreen polling machines. But Thaxton's 2012 Republican primary audience may have been quicker to forgive those problems, if they did indeed lead to the undervotes. After all, the Republican won. So what was the problem again?</p><p>More recently, Dent told the county commissioners that she had not granted raises to her employees. It turns out she had, which she justified because those employees had taken on additional duties. Thaxton attributed the misrepresentation to a character flaw.</p><p>To neutral observers, however, Dent's actions seemed more those of a conscientious employer trying to reward good employees the best she could.</p><p>And Thaxton's criticisms, almost all of them, came across as shrill. He was attacking good old Aunt Kathy. She might not be perfect, but she's the first one invited to the family reunion.</p><p>What's more, speaking of character, Thaxton's offensive approach to the race was totally out of character for him. A blunt, name-calling brute had somehow replaced the thoughtful analyst with the warm wit that voters had known for 12 years.</p><p>The transformation jarred anyone who saw it.</p><p>Honestly, Thaxton probably did not really want the job. He still wanted to be a commissioner. The supervisor of elections office was a distant second choice.</p><p>Voters could see it even if Thaxton couldn't admit it to himself.</p><p><i>Eric Ernst's column runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.ernst@heraldtribune.com or (941) 486-3073.</i></p>